Sensor network designs win IoT contest

SAN JOSE, Calif. –A wireless door lock sensor, a universal LED driver for streetlights and an energy-harvesting current sensor were winners in a contest geared to promote the emerging Internet of Things.

All three winners used IP over 802.15.4 networks. The IPSO Alliance, a trade group promoting Internet Protocol for smart objects, hosted the contest.

First place went to the Energy Harvesting Transformer from Redwire Consulting, a self-powered current sensor that clips to any wire and wirelessly connects to the Internet. A Redwire customer aims to have 1,500 of the devices deployed in 100 buildings by the end of the year to ease the job of monitoring energy use.

The CMD Asset Management system from Colorado Micro Devices took second place. The wireless network includes a door lock sensor that can be added to any deadbolt and a sensor that detects an asset as it moves around a network.

“If this was on the market today, I would purchase it to take advantage of IP enabled home security,” said Geoff Mulligan, chairman of the alliance.

Third place went to a group from Spain’s University of Murcia that developed a universal driver for LED streetlights. The Smart Driver controls LED lights that span a range between 350-700mA and 0-120W. It also provides a platform to connect other sensors.

“The quality of implementation and functionality of the prototype was very impressive,” said Tom Herbst, an IPSO board member.

Yes. 6LoWPAN is IPv6 over a Low power Wireless Personal Area Network, typically based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. This is essentially what IPSO promotes.
Others like Zigbee use similar physical layers but typically use their own higher layer protocols not IP.
Some IPSO folks may still use IPv4 but the trend is clearly to IPv6.

Amazing to think of how quickly this IoT will move forward. NEST and Fitbit, though technically may not be IoT, have opened my eyes as to how quickly and how useful IoT will come to be.
Tom
http://www.mitydsp.com